Main » Netanyahu: Israel has relations with whole Middle East except Syria

Netanyahu: Israel has relations with whole Middle East except Syria

14 February 2019

The meeting, which took place on the sidelines of a Warsaw-hosted, USA -sponsored worldwide conference on the Middle East, was lauded by each of the two sides.

Netanyahu, who met with the Omani foreign minister on the sidelines on Wednesday, called the conference a "historical turning point" in tackling the threat from Iran.

- Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) February 13, 2019 You know how I say that Israel and Saudi Arabia (and NGOs that support them) want war with Iran?

Netanyahu said many Arab countries were following Oman's lead in moving toward more open interaction with Israel, "including at this conference".

In a re-issued statement to the media, Netanyahu's office said the goal of the meetings in Poland was "to advance the common interest of combatting Iran".

Netanyahu - who has been trying to play up his diplomatic gains ahead of Israel's April election - has frequently hinted at warmer ties with Gulf Arab states.

The Jerusalem Post reports that, although Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar have all sent representatives to Warsaw for the conference, Palestinian Authority officials are boycotting the USA -sponsored confab due to the Trump administration's 2018 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and its relocation of its Israeli embassy to that capital. "Now we say, this is a new era, for the future".

Leading European countries Germany and France opted not to send their foreign ministers over concerns the meeting could highlight big-power tensions over Washington's decision past year to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and re-impose sanctions against Tehran.

"With the summit largely spurned by our Western European allies, the administration was forced to spin the event from an Iran-centric gathering to one focused on broader Middle East peace and security issues", NIAC said.

The meeting prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to call his own summit with representatives from Iran and Turkey, which is set to take place in Sochi on Thursday.